Chapter 22: Counter-Arguments

Less than an hour later Ambassador Sharon Klein was standing in the Throne Room, trembling as the Emir glowered at her. The meeting had started badly when she was kept waiting for forty minutes after an urgent summons had brought her post-haste to the Palace. Then the Emir entered and stood on the dais before his throne, while those few of his subjects in the room made obeisance. Sharon had no idea why she had been summoned but the delay, for which no explanation was offered, did not bode well. Staring at her for some moments the Emir sat down.

~Up, he said in Arabic and the people rose from the obeisance position.

Still staring at Sharon and in an ominously quiet voice he said, "Mr. Ambassador. I am aware that the people of the United States of America consider themselves far superior to all other races, especially ignorant sand dwellers such as we, and I know that performing obeisance to a foreign head of state in his own throne room is far beneath the dignity of any one of you, but I would have thought that a small bow as I enter the room would not be regarded as anything more than polite acknowledgement of my status."

Sharon's heart sank; something was wrong, very wrong. She bowed deeply.

"Too late," remarked the Emir, "You have been asked to spare a few moments of your valuable time, if it is convenient today, or at some later time if you so desire, so that we can fully understand the position of the government of the United States of America in respect of the Vienna Convention."

The Emir's voice dripped sarcasm as he continued, "As you may be aware, that is the venerable international treaty governing the treatment of diplomatic staff resident within a foreign country, and also governing their behaviour."

Sharon shook her head silently, completely mystified as to what could possibly have upset him so much.

Reverting to Arabic he ordered, ~Bring in the prisoner.~

The Emir addressed Sharon, "You will remain silent."

'Prisoner?' thought Sharon, 'Which of my staff has upset him so much that he has had a member of the Embassy arrested?'

She did not recognise the man who was brought in to the room, and she could have sworn she had never seen him in her life before.

Addressing the prisoner, the Emir asked, "Who are you and what is your status?"

"I am a representative of the Government of the USA and I demand to be released at once."

"Interesting, and are you a part of the embassy staff? If so, which department?" the Emir inquired blandly.

Sharon's thoughts raced. There were just over thirty members of the Embassy staff and she knew all of them. Nobody new had arrived recently, so that wasn't it, yet this man was clearly an American by his accent alone. How could he claim to be part of the Embassy and be unknown to her? Clearly he had not recognised her as being the Ambassador.

"I'm working under the protection of the Commercial Attaché and I represent some of the largest corporations in the world. My company's turnover is much greater than the total wealth of this country, so I suggest that you let me free now and apologise damn quickly."

The Emir nodded to Sharon and said, "Perhaps you would like to introduce yourself?"

Sharon turned to the man and said, "My name is Professor Sharon Klein and I hold the position of Ambassador of the United States of America to the court of His Magnificence Mahmoud Abdullah, may he live for ever and have many sons, Emir of Kobekistan, the gentleman on the throne there."

The man's attitude changed immediately and dramatically; suddenly he was one vast friendly smile.

"You should have said, Your Majesty. You are the guy I need to see. Now we can offer you, and I do mean you, a real swell deal for exclusive rights to open restaurants..."

In response to a lifted hand from the Emir the man was face down on the floor before he could finish the sentence.

Turning to Sharon, the Emir asked, "Do you support the claim that this man is a part of the staff of the Commercial Attaché at your Embassy, and therefore under the protection of the Vienna Convention? Or can we just throw him out of the country?"

Sharon was extremely careful about the wording of her reply.

"I would wish to verify his identity with the Embassy before answering that question."

~Hand her his papers, ordered the Emir.

On examining the man's passport, Sharon discovered that he was Hiram J. Hoover III, and a visiting card revealed that he was Business Development Vice President for one of the largest fast food chains in the world. His entry into Kobekistan was indeed sponsored by the Commercial Attaché at the Embassy, but that in no way made him a diplomat.

"Your Magnificence," she said, "This man is a citizen of the United States of America and so it is my duty to protest at his arrest unless substantial charges can be proven. However, he is not a member of the Embassy staff, nor is he entitled to diplomatic immunity."

"So you admit that there are substantial charges proven against him?" asked the Emir in a voice little louder than a whisper.

Seeing the trap, Sharon decided to concede gracefully, "Yes, Your Magnificence, I concede that Kobekistani and international law has been broken, in that he falsely claimed to be a diplomat."

"Hey, wait a minute," protested Hiram from the floor, "What law?"

~Let him up,

"Explain to him," said the Emir.

Sharon drew a deep breath and then said, "Entering the country under false pretences, falsely claiming to represent the sovereign government of the USA, falsely claiming to be an accredited member of the U.S. Embassy, attempting to sell prohibited goods or services and, God help us, offering a bribe to the Emir. Do you want any more?"

"Hey, but they are just technicalities, and I didn't try to sell anything illegal and I didn't say a word about a bribe. Everybody knows that local contacts in Ay-rab countries want commission. We had permission to come here from their Embassy in Washington."

"We?" interjected the Emir, "How many more are in your unit?"

"I meant we, the company. Department of Commerce said they couldn't get more than one visa this trip."

"The royal 'we'; how quaint. I thought the USA had disowned the British monarchy years ago," remarked the Emir, almost causing Sharon to giggle aloud.

"Now," he continued, "When you applied for your visa, did you sign the form of which this is a copy?"

"Yeah, sure. That's my signature."